Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1887-08-21
LONDON LETTER.
PLATFORM OF rHR RNaLrsH LIBERAL
PARTY.
industrial Education Bill in House Of
Commons Jubilee Of the Electric
Telegraph Interesting Facts.
rCorrespondcncc of the Richmond Dispatch

or technical schools, for the quicker
rebuilding of the South and rs hope
full factor in the solution of the still I'M
settled negro problem. DR.. Haygood,
the agent of the Slater fund, in his
last r, port showed the happy results OF
industrial education in the schools aid
cd by him. Thoughtful educators all
over the United States have been of
late years giving careful attention to
this new phase OF the subject OF prac-
teal education, and have earnestly stu
died what foreign nations are doing
in this line. There is pending now in
The House OF Commons technical in
struction bill, and it is creditable to
the Government and the Opposition
that both parties seem equally alive
to the importance of the question
The object of the measure is TO enable
local authorities to establish technical
schools and TO make Government grants
in aid Of the expenses OF the local
boards. The principle Of local option
is recognized. II the inhabitants of
a district are in favor OF technical edu-
cation they will be allowed to get it
for themselves, but the proposed law
adopts no compulsion. The decision
for or against the establishment of such
a school rests with the whole body of
rate-payers. The bill is permisSive,
and the expenses of the experiment will
come mainly out Of the pockets of
those who are to pay the rates. Once
started, however, the technical school
can only he discontinued by permission
Of the Science and Art Department,
which is TO have the general direction
of the system and to lay down instruc-
tious in accordance with which the new
establishments are TO be conducted.
The object of the supporters Of the
scheme is TO supply deficiency to
which public attention of late has
been widely and earnestly called. Eng
lish pre-eminence in the quality of
workmanship is not what it once was.
English producers and traders are suf-
fering from active and skilful COMPETE
tion in the markets of the world. Other
nations have adopted machinery and
apparatus which enable them to pro-
duce successfully that Of which Eng
land formerly bad the monopoly. The
rest Of the world has shown more en-
torprise and activity. New populations
now ask for the products of factory
and foundry. 1t has become necessary
for England TO take lessons from her
Younger rivals and TO "mGkc use of
every new invention and Of every labor
saving appliance United States and
other countries are vicing with her
in coal ard iron and manufacturing,
snd English statesmen feel the need of
holding their own and acquiring
new folds Of trade by manufactu-
ring better than their competitors
Tie old system of apprenticeship
does not answer in the new conditions.
Careful technical education has become
necessity for artisans and those who
suTorintcnd them. Facilities for in
stIuctiOn are therefore to be placed
within the reach OF the industrial
classes. Not a few favored trades are
to receive exclusively the attention of
the Government, or the benefits of the
practical teaching nor is the instruc-
tion to be SO vague and general rs to be
Of no practical value. Virginia and
Richmond may well have eyes open to
all practical schemes Of technical edu-
cation, and he ready to adopt what
promises Ieaditst and most permanent
good.
On the 2Cth Of July was celebrated
in this city the jubilee OF the electric
telegraph, and the daily pressin record
ing the proceedings OF public meet
ing, at which the Postmaster-General
presided, have taken advantage of the
occasion to celebrate, by leading edi-
tOiials, in filter manner, "the mar
vcllous invention Of the victorian era,
the abolition of time and space by
"that miracle OF scierce.' MIR. Glad |
stone once said 10 me that the English
no sooner adopted a reform than they
proceeded at once to require or
strongly advise other nations to DO the
same, and so, it seems, that they are
much inclined to claim priority Of in
vention of all great improvements. |
am not capable Of deciding to whom
We are indebted for the discovery and
invention, but the English writer's, sus-
tanned 10y the Queen, claim that Sir
Charles Whe6tstOne was the first
to set IN electric telegraph in actual
working" So it may be. Let Us
thank God for the fact that the tele
graph has made al the nations OF the
earth one neighborhood, and enables
us every morning to read the condensed /
news OF the habitablc globe. The sta /
tisiics of this "cosmical servant, Il mes /
senger subtlcr than air, swifier than |
light, as given in the English journals, /
ere interesting. On judy p, 1887, /
Wheatstone and Cooke sat in twolittle |
apartments, separated by about mile
and a lalf OF London streets. The |
first message was sent, received, deci- |
Ihered. and the deed was done In |
1913, seven wears afterwards, the Great /
Weston Railway Company were charg- |
ing the public a shilling TO see their |
electric wires in operation. There |
are now IN Great Britain 6,5li |
Offices open to public use, and the
annual payments for messages have |
risen to Sl0,0O0,000. The speed ut |
which messages can bepracticnily trans
mitttd has advanced from seventeen |
words a minute which was quick work |
in 1854, to $50, the present Office rate.
There are nine active cables linking |
England and America, and the ll2, 900 |
miles Of wire, laid along the bottom of
al the seas, represent capital value OF
2lS5, 1900. The ICie9raDh, from
which get these facts, closes its ar
ticle on what the magnetic messenger
has done for man with tins sentence
Ibis progress is by many a path
MANY and many faithful and patient |
mind works constantly for him, with |
nature always ready and eager to help;
and it is not in one direction, but in a
hundred, that the life of humanity will /
be vet further elevated, and its re-
sources UNNECESSARILY augmented and |
advanced az the years roll onward"
A recent election in Glasgow excited |
much attention, and by the interest |
taken in it by the public press and the |
two parties was lifted from local into |
national significance. Sir George /
Ireyelyan. the nephew of Macauley, |
author of those delightful books, "rhe /
Letters Of Mscauley," and Early Life
Of Fox, "a statesman of much experience /
and ability, was returned by an in
creased Liberal majority. and his en-
trance into the Commons WAS greeted /